NIGERIA: SOUTH-EAST GOVERNORS BRING LIMITED CHANGE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 LAGOS 000098 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2018 TAGS: ECON PGOV NI SUBJECT: NIGERIA: SOUTH-EAST GOVERNORS BRING LIMITED CHANGE Classified By: CONSUL GENERAL DONNA BLAIR FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) Summary: In a series of meetings through January, contacts in Anambra, Ebonyi, and Abia states told Poloff that after being marginalized by the federal government for years, the states are now using their own resources to improve infrastructure and industry. On Poloff's road trips through the South East States, Poloff saw evidence of such efforts in improved roadways and infrastructure in the capital cities in Anambra and Ebonyi, but noted different priorities and levels of effectiveness in each governor's own development projects. Anambra has established a budget process in which citizens can participate and has developed an integrated development plan, but has been criticized for failure to elect local government officials. Ebonyi,s leadership appears active and transparent, and the state's development projects and industrial development are readily apparent. Abia, while building its manufacturing and financial industries, is hindered by a lack of political transparency and a deteriorating security situation that the state government has failed to address. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) In trips and meetings from November 2008 to the South East and meetings through January, contacts in Anambra, Ebonyi, and Abia states told Poloff that, having been marginalized by the federal government for years, states are now taking matters into their own hands, developing infrastructure and industries that had previously been ignored. Anambra: Is Focus on Fiscal Responsibility Effective? -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) In Anambra State, Governor Peter Obi (All Nigeria People's Party - ANPP),who was returned to office by the 2007 Supreme Court decision declaring that he should serve out his original four year term despite the intervening election in April 2007 of former Obasanjo aide Andy Uba (People's Democratic party - PDP),faces a State Assembly dominated by the PDP. Stella Okunna, Commissioner for Information, and Mrs. N. E. Melifonwu, Head of the Anambra Civil Service, both part of Governor Obi's cabinet, told Poloff November 12 that the state government is now occupied with developing impoverished rural areas and in managing Anambra,s small revenues. Anambra receives only 2 billion naira (approximately USD 13.3 million) per month from the federal government, compared to neighboring Delta State, an oil producing state which receives 18 billion naira (approximately USD 120 million) per month. Internally generated revenues are also small, derived mostly from tax on industries, all of which are struggling, the officials said. Civil Service Chief Mrs. Melifonwu complained to Poloff that Anambrans avoid paying taxes and fees, thus undermining state government programs. The failure of the federal government to invest in the rice and agriculture industry has led the state government to take over non-functioning, federally owned rice mills. (Note: One rice mill is being developed through a contract with USAID. End Note.) ¶4. (C) Professor Akintola-Bello, Director of the EU's Support to Reforming Institutions Program (SRIP),told Poloff that his program has focused on helping the state to increase the efficiency of state agencies and to improve public finance. Professor Bello affirmed that Governor Obi has tight control over state finances, and said that the Governor's willingness to drive change was one of the principal reasons the Anambra Integrated Development Strategy (ANIDS) has been effective. Another positive, the professor claimed is the governor's progress toward a truly participatory budget process. For the first time, in fiscal year 2008, civil society was given the opportunity to have input into the budget process. SRIP is continuing to work with the Governor to improve the 2009 budget process as well. ¶5. (C) However, Governor Obi is not without his critics. While most contacts reported that he has been a good manager of funds, many believe some of his appointees are misusing government resources. Obele Chuka, a human rights lawyer and activist, and local journalists told Poloff that many of Obi,s projects were "white elephants" and others, including roads, schools, and buildings, are unlikely to reach completion. Chuka and journalists cited Obi's much publicized program through which he claims to have supplied LAGOS 00000098 002 OF 004 every secondary school in the state with a computer. The computers, however, are outdated, Pentium I units imported from China, interlocutors said, and inordinately overpriced, costing the state 150,000 naira (approximately USD 1,000) each. As journalists pointed out, the schools get little electric power with which to power the computers, and the state has only two computer teachers in the whole system to help students upgrade their skills. Critics also pointed to Obi,s emphasis on constructing new buildings to house private enterprises, such as the Anambra Stock Exchange, and additional government offices as examples of waste of public funds; many contracts were over-priced and given to the governor's political and economic contacts, the journalists said. LGA Elections Delay Spark Discontent -------------- ¶6. (C) Anambra has not conducted local government are (LGA) elections since 2002, when the previous governor, Chris Ngige, appointed the current electoral commission. Obi claims that local government elections cannot be held until the security situation in Anambra improves. However, journalists maintain that there is no politically motivated crime in the state and that all kidnappings are economically motivated. They accuse the ANPP Governor of using security as an excuse to avoid conducting local government elections, which, they claim, would likely result in victories for the main opposition party, Action Congress (AC). In a December 5 meeting, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly, Afam Obi (PDP),told Poloff that Governor Obi has a close relationship with LGA officials because all are civil servants whom he appointed. Afam Obi says that the state House of Assembly has called the Governor's attention to the problem of appointing civil servants to what should be elected positions. However, Afam Obi claims, the Governor continues to find ways to go around the Assembly's mandate. Afam Obi believes that as long as constituents cannot hold civil servants accountable, or see democracy at this lowest, grassroots level, the state government will always lack legitimacy. (Note: While Afam Obi's articulated rationale is indisputable, the practical political explanation for his view is that the PDP, which holds a majority of seats in the House of Assembly, would be likely, despite internal PDP wrangling over the budget, to take control of all LGA positions were local elections to be held. End Note) Ebonyi: Public Pleased with State's Development -------------- --- ¶7. (SBU) Journalists told Poloff in a November 13 meeting that Ebonyi State Governor Martins Elechi(PDP) has true popular support, in no small part because Elechi led the move for Ebonyi statehood in the early 1990s; Elechi enjoys good cooperation from the PDP-dominated state assembly. In October 2008, when the Ezza and Ezillo communities clashed over land, the Governor intervened and awarded more land to the Ezza people; the journalists praised the Governor's deft handling of the situation. The governor's wife also won plaudits from medical practitioners and women patients with whom Poloff spoke while visiting a clinic established by Mrs. Elechi to treat women with vesicovaginal fistula (VVF). Mrs. Elechi, through the NGO which she has established, has opened the VVF clinic which has treated hundreds of women, and continually campaigns to bring the problem into the public eye and remove the stigma attached to it. (Note: VVF occurs when labor is obstructed, often as the result of scarring from genital mutilation or pregnancy in adolescents, and results in incontinence and other painful and embarassing effects. End Note) Funding for the clinic, which is the first of its kind in Nigeria, comes from local government areas, state development funds, and private donations. ¶8. (SBU) Journalists said that Ebonyi's relatively calm political atmosphere, which has existed since its creation as a state in 1996, has allowed a number of successful development projects to bring employment to the state. Poloff noted that the state had noticeably better roads and infrastructure in the capital, Abakaliki, than was present elsewhere in the South East. Journalists said the Governor has worked on two major water projects in the state with the expressed aim of eliminating waterborne diseases. He is building nineteen bridges with links to major roads and has LAGOS 00000098 003 OF 004 continued projects begun by the previous governor. ¶9. (SBU) Granite and stone quarries drive the economy of the state, with several local governments areas being self-sufficient through the income from their quarries, journalists said. As an example, the Isihagu local government area has built five new schools, a shopping center, and bridges from its self-generated income. However, the quarries do use child labor; Poloff saw children breaking and carrying large pieces of granite during the November 2008 visit. The National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP) Ebonyi desk officer told Poloff on November 13 that the state Ministry of Women,s Affairs is designing a community sensitization program to combat child labor, but that she is unable to determine the magnitude of the problem because there has been no money to do the requisite surveys. Abia: Former Governor Remains in Control -------------- ¶10. (C) In Abia State, Governor Theodore Orji (People's Progressive Alliance - PPA) remains on seat; his election was validated by the February 11 decision of the Court of Appeals which overturned the February 2008 election tribunal decision that declared his People's Democratic Party (PDP) rival the winner of the election. Poloff met with Mazi Okorie, Secretary to the State Government, and Mascot Uzor Kalu, the Chief of Staff to the Governor on November 14, 2008 (Note: Mascot Kalu is an American citizen and brother to the former governor Orji Kalu. He returned from the United States at the request of his brother to serve as the current governor's chief of staff. End Note.). Both Okorie and Mascot Kalu told Poloff that Governor Theodore Orji's focus is on transforming Abia,s economy and reactivating dormant industries, including a brewery, and glass factories. They claimed that under the current administration fifty roads have been completed, improvements have been made for potable water, and a new independent power project (IPP) will begin operation. (Note: Start up of the Geometric Power IPP in Aba was scheduled for December 2008 but has been delayed, for a variety of reasons, including the unavailability of gas supplies. Planning and construction of the plant began before the current governor took office. End Note.) Abia State is building a satellite town in the southern part of the state that officials hope will attract businesses and residents from Port Harcourt by providing better security. Mascot Kalu stated that the Governor has given the National Police Force over seventy vehicles to enhance its operations in Abia. Okorie described increased enrollment in schools and claimed that the state had purchased air-conditioned buses to transport all children in Aba and Umuahia, the state capital, to school. In addition, the Governor is spearheading a free health care program intended to provide medical care in every local government area, the Abia officials claimed. Poloff was unable to observe any of the reported improvements in the state. In addition, the Zero Corruption Coalition reports that the state is plagued by corruption, an allegation that would appear to be corroborated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) investigations that are taking place in the state. Abia: People See Governor As Puppet of Former Governor -------------- -------------- ¶11. (C) In a January meeting with Shina Loremikan of the Zero Corruption Coalition, Loremikan stated that there is little public confidence in the Governor and widespread belief that that he is a puppet of former governor Orji Kalu (PPA). Representatives of the All Nigeria People,s Party (ANPP) and Festus Keyamo, a well-known human rights and anti-corruption attorney, claim that Kalu,s family still controls the day-to-day affairs of the state. The mother of the former governor (and current chief of staff),reportedly referred to as "Mother Excellency," makes most financial decisions and hosts many formal state government meetings in her home, the ANPP and Keyamo claimed. This family affair continues to promote the name of the former governor, who many believed would have continued in power were it not for term limits. The current governor was in EFCC jail at the time of his election in 2007, leading civil society LAGOS 00000098 004 OF 004 organizations to question how he was able to win an election for which he never campaigned. The current governor is also the subject of ICPC investigations for money laundering. In addition, the ANPP claimed that there has been no power in the state in two months, that there is no potable water, and that the plan to increase health care in the local government areas is nothing more than political propaganda for former governor Orji Kalu (for whom the plan is named) and does not provide the services the state government claims. ¶12. (C) In November and December 2008, the worsening security situation caused businesses and banks to go on strike to protest the lack of government and law enforcement intervention in the face of a growing number of kidnappings, bank robberies, and other violent crimes taking place in Aba and surrounding areas. In November 2008, shortly after the chief of staff and secretary to the state government denied reported kidnappings and security problems appearing in the media, business and civil society contacts gave Poloff personal accounts of family kidnappings and armed robberies. January 20-21, the press reported that police and Abia state vigilante services attacked ten villages and burned down 400 houses in the community of Abala. The state government has not accepted any responsibility for the events, and several newspapers reported that Sam Hart, the chief press secretary to the Governor, had stated that if such events had occured, it would be the federal government, not the state government's, responsibility to intervene. ¶13. (C) Comment: Each of these three governors got into office in a different way, and that has affected what they have been able to achieve, and with what degree of difficulty. While we have heard that the governors of the south-east geopolitical zone are interested in collaborating on region-wide problems, such as security, erosion, power, and oil-production, we could find little evidence that they are attempting to coordinate more general development goals. End comment. ¶14. (U) This cable has been coordinated with Embassy Abuja. BLAIR